The present invention relates in general to a graphic and alpha-numeric display used in association with a computer system. More particularly, the invention relates to a horizontal scrolling technique that permits bi-directional scrolling on a character-by-character resolution basis.
Conventional horizontal scrolling techniques rely on software-based raster operations. With these software controlled techniques, scrolling is carried out only on a line-by-line basis. The disadvantage of this conventional software technique is that it requires the removal and repositioning of significant amounts of data from memory.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved horizontal scrolling technique that now permits scrolling on a character-by-character basis.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved horizontal scrolling method and apparatus in which relatively simple hardware components are employed in place of extensive software control to thereby minimize data manipulation in memory.